Cromford railway station serves the village of Cromford in
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It is a stop on the Derwent Valley Line, which connects with ; it is located north of Derby. The station, which is
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
, is owned by
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
and managed by
East Midlands Railway
East Midlands Railway (EMR; legally Transport UK East Midlands Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Transport UK Group, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise.
Originally owned by Abellio (transport compan ...
.
History
Known originally as Cromford Bridge, it was opened by the
Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway
The Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway ran from a junction with the Midland Railway at Ambergate to Rowsley north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock and thence to Buxton.
In time it would become part of the Midland Railw ...
in 1849. This is one of the few stations on the line that has been preserved and is a
Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
. It is said to have been designed by G. H. Stokes, son-in-law of
Joseph Paxton
Sir Joseph Paxton (3 August 1803 – 8 June 1865) was an English gardener, architect, engineer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Member of Parliament. He is best known for designing the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde ...
. It is believed that Stokes designed Station House (built in 1855), the extremely ornate former station master's residence opposite the station on the side of the hill as well as the ornate villa style waiting room, on what was the ''up'' platform. According to
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
, this is the original station building; the present building on the opposite (''down'') platform was added by the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...
at a later date.
In 2024 Cromford Railway Station was named as "one of the five most beautiful and remarkable ailway stationsin the world".
Willersley Tunnel, which is long, is situated immediately north of the station.
Following many years of neglect and decline, a long lease on the main station building was purchased by the Arkwright Society; the building has been restored and improved, re-opening as office space in May 2009. Station House, of which the old waiting room is a part, is now self-contained holiday accommodation.
In the year from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010, journeys from the station had increased by 16.88%.
On 17 September 2009, taxi driver Stuart Ludlam was murdered at the station by gun fanatic Colin Cheetham.
Services
All services at Cromford are operated by
East Midlands Railway
East Midlands Railway (EMR; legally Transport UK East Midlands Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Transport UK Group, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise.
Originally owned by Abellio (transport compan ...
, using diesel multiple units.
The typical off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction between and , via . On Sundays, the station is served by one train every two hours in each direction in the morning, increasing to hourly in the afternoon.
In popular culture
The disused southbound platform was used on the cover of the 1995
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentSome Might Say".